The Magnitude of Gratitude

I can not tell you how many times I’ve heard people talking about gratitude and maybe you can relate to that. Whether it be practicing it or how important and powerful it can be when you regularly reflect on being grateful. Maybe you think you've heard it all before but I want to share with you why gratitude is important, how you can understand it and even start to practice it. One day I’ll talk about my own story, but something that has kept me going through my life is practicing gratitude. Let me tell you why.

When you focus your energy on all the things you have to be grateful for, no matter how small, this has a significant impact on raising your energy and allowing even the smallest seeds of happiness to bloom. Being grateful for the things you have doesn’t allow there to be room to focus on what you don’t have.

Steve Harvey said: ‘gratitude changes your perception and your perception changes your existence’. I’m going to link the YouTube video where he talks about how to use gratitude to coach your mind from depression, a video my Dad sent to me about a year ago. Of all the videos my Dad bombards me with on Whatsapp, (if you know you know) this is probably one of my favourite videos to watch and re watch because of how it explains what gratitude can do. Hopefully you get round to watching the video to fully comprehend it but for now I’ll summarise the main points. You can express gratitude by writing out lists, lists of things you’re grateful for no matter how big or how small.

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So for example:

1. I’m grateful I woke up today alive and well in limited pain.

2. I’m grateful that my brother has made a full recovery from his surgery and has full mobility back in his legs.

3. I’m grateful for the nice weather. (sorry if you’re reading this on a day with bad weather)

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A method I recently learnt from one of my mentors is the 3-2-1 gratitude list. For this method you write down 3 people you’re grateful for, 2 things you’re grateful for and 1 future accomplishment you’re grateful for. This is something I do every morning as part of my morning routine (blog post on that pending). Steve Harvey advises being very detailed with gratitude lists to really understand the excess of things you have to be grateful for. He says that what you’ll find is that the gratitude will erase all negativity because in the face of being grateful you’ll feel joy. Shifting your attention from what you don’t have to what you do have allows you to focus on the positives in your life EVEN through a tough situation. So even when I’m really going through it, and trust me I most definitely have been THROUGH it, using gratitude lists to shift my focus has been very helpful and rewarding for myself. Sometimes the overwhelming feeling of gratitude I have for the people, things and milestones I've overcome in my life actually brings me close to tears, no cap. (tears of joy of course)

So for you reading this right now, if you don’t already do it my challenge to you is to start practicing gratitude. Maybe start small, and just say to yourself one thing/person that you’re grateful for each day. Or maybe you’re someone who’s going through a difficult patch right now and if that's the case, just get a notepad and pen and make a list of all the small to bigger things you have to be grateful for. I promise you will start to see a shift in how you feel and think. For those of you who already do it, do not stop. Keep going guys, keep practicing gratitude, even if things may be hard at times, keep being grateful for things you do have and watch them multiply in due time.